


I don't want to have to go, where you don't follow

by yekatracyna



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Bodyguard AU, Bodyguard Miz Cracker, F/F, F/M, Foster Dad Bob, I've never seen the movie, M/M, Socialite Aquaria, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-04-21 18:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14291331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yekatracyna/pseuds/yekatracyna
Summary: Cracker drops out of university to follow her dreams. Looking for some easy cash, she gets hired as a bodyguard for New York grunge legend Sharon Needles' model daughter, Aquaria.





	1. Don't make me close one more door

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kind of in love with this idea, but I need you guys to tell me what you think of it in the comments because I'm so nervous!
> 
> Also, while I love Miz Cracker with all my heart, can we all just agree that her name is horrible for writing fanfiction???

When Cracker decided to drop out of College, she was terrified. For most of her life this was what she had been working towards, get a degree to make something of herself, show all the people who had doubted her what she could do. But she wasn’t happy. She was 26 and just a couple of credits short of finishing her Master’s degree, but she finally had had enough. College was fun, but she realized, perhaps a little late, but still, that her heart just wasn’t in it. Some other things went down at college that perhaps made the decision even easier, but she decided to listen to her heart and leave.

When she first told Bob, she was sitting on his couch crying, for what seemed like the first time in a long time, deathly afraid that she had disappointed him. Bob had been the first one who had taken her in and showed her love after her parents died, the first foster home who didn’t send her away immediately. He loved her, raised her like she was his own daughter, helped her get the scholarships that took her to college and he was there building every piece of Ikea furniture when she moved out and into her first apartment. To this day, they still talked almost every single day.

Bob wasn’t happy at first, he wanted the best for her, and college had always seemed such a safe option for doing well in life. But he was also proud of her that she was brave enough to go her own way, and he believed she could do it. Not that he could be mad at her when she was crying anyways, so he just held her and told her everything would be alright.

Cracker knew what she wanted to do, know the next step was how to get there. She had been doing karate for almost 20 years now, her dad had enrolled her and went with her to every practice and she never stopped going, even when she had to beg the coach to let her clean the mats or teach the young kids to pay her fees because nobody was left to pay them for her. She wanted to open a martial arts and self-defense school for women.

Looking at how much renting a space like that in New York cost, she would have to save up for years and working multiple jobs, if she wanted to settle somewhere even remotely close to Manhattan. That’s why she was sitting on Bob’s couch right now. He called her and said that he had a solution for her. Right now, though, Bob was mainly late.

She heard the door opening.

“Sorry, sorry I’m late Breezy, you won’t believe the line at the pizza place I always go to, I’m scared someone put it on trip advisor and all the white tourists will be lining up there now” He threw his jacket in the kitchen and seemed to be getting some plates and drinks for them.

Bob was the only one who was allowed to call her Breezy. Occasionally he called her Bree, but he knew that she hated her name, so he just usually nicknamed around it. Everyone else had gotten around to just calling her Cracker. It fit after all, not only was it her last name, but she also had a fourth-degree black belt and a tendency to get into fights where things sometimes, well, cracked. Not very sensei of her, but sometimes you just didn’t have a choice.

“So, what is this crazy news that will get me rich? You know I’m not sleeping with anyone for money, right? Like unless she’s really, really cute”, she shouted over to Bob who was in the kitchen.

That was another thing she loved Bob for. He was gay himself and when she had told him she was a lesbian, he didn’t even blink. Back then, four families had sent her away, some in more… forceful ways than others, after they’d found out, but Bob just hugged her. In general, he just always hugged her and held her when she was sad or vulnerable, probably sensing that not enough people had done that to her in her lifetime.

“What’s this about my girl having sex you’re not dating until you’re 30 we talked about this honey”, Bob said and pretended to be shocked when he plopped down on the couch next to her and put the pizza and two cans of coke on the table.

“Don’t dads just usually say that because they know men are trash? What’s your excuse?” She said and grabbed a slice of pizza.

“Can’t let anyone break my baby girls heart but can’t hit a woman either, we’re avoiding the dilemma”, he managed to get out while chewing.

“Like I couldn’t defend myself!”

“Let me feel like a man for once will you?”, Bob sighed, and Cracker started laughing.

They continued to eat in silence for a bit, until they were both finished, and Bob went to get something that looked like a business card out of his wallet.

“So, about that money thing, do you know Sharon Needles?”, Bob asked.

“Do I know Sharon Needles? Does anyone in New York not know Sharon Needles?” Cracker asked back. Sharon Needles was a cult figure in New York, maybe even in the whole country. She was a morbid musician; the newspapers called her the female Marilyn Manson, if she wasn’t more famous than him.

“Well Sharon came into my club yesterday and- “

“How does Sharon come into _your_ club?” Bob owned a gay bar down in Hell’s Kitchen and performed there as a comedian.

“Turns out she goes way back with that new girl we hired for Tuesdays, Alaska. Anyways, she was talking about how she was looking for a female bodyguard for her daughter, Aquaria. You know her? She’s a model or something.”

“No, I don’t.” Cracker knew that Sharon Needles had a daughter, but she’d never heard of her, she always thought Sharon was one of those mothers to keep her kid out of the spotlight. “How old even is this girl?”

Cracker imagined babysitting some snobby 14-year-old emo kid and cringed at the pure thought of it.

“I think she just turned 20. Or 21 maybe?. Anyways, I overheard her talking to Alaska and obviously had to jump in and- “

“Completely embarrass me in front of a living legend?” Cracker asked, grinning.

“promote my beautiful, black belt karate ninja, female daughter; you’ll thank me later. She was a bit sceptic I think, but she gave me her number and said that you should call her if you’re interested.”

He handed her the business card. It was in fact one Bob’s bar, but there was a number scribbled on the back of it.

Cracker thought about it for a moment. She was qualified to be a bodyguard, and it’s not like she hadn’t considered it before. She didn’t want to be some sort of bouncer though, and most people wanted their bodyguards to be big hunky men anyways, someone who looked scary enough you didn’t even need him to be able to fight anything. But if they were looking for a woman especially?

Bob seemed to realize her hesitating and put a hand on her shoulder.

“If it’s horrible just stay a couple of weeks and take your money, the pay is supposed to be insane, more in month than you’ll make in a year bartending for me or at those other jobs you applied for.”

That wasn’t hard though, since she had just applied at absolutely horrible places, trying to figure out a way to combine two or three full time jobs. Not working 80-hour+ weeks suddenly did sound very appealing.

“I’ll call her on my way home, I think, thanks Bob”, she said hugged him before getting up and leaving. Almost ten years, but she still couldn’t bring herself to call him Dad, but he never seemed to mind.

Cracker got her jacket, said goodbye to Bob and left his apartment. He had moved to a smaller two-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village after Cracker had moved out, making her wonder why Bob ever had the big place in Brooklyn, where she’d first met him, in the first place. It was a nice neighborhood though, and Cracker decided to get the dreaded phone call over with right there and then.

She was qualified, she thought as a mantra to herself, she was hard working, and Sharon Needles was just a scared helicopter parent.

Still, her fingers were shaking when she dialed the number. If it wasn’t going to work, she decided she could still sell Sharon’s number online and make a fortune just off of that.

“Hello, this is Sharon?” Okay Cracker, keep your cool, she thought to herself.

“Hi, this is Bree, you gave your number to my- to Bob, at the bar in Hell’s Kitchen?” Wasn’t great but could have been so much worse.

“Oh, you’re Bob’s daughter, I was hoping you’d call. Alaska told me you were incredible.” As far as Cracker remembered she had seen Alaska about two times when she was bartending, once when she’d come in for her interview and once when Alaska had been so wasted she didn’t remember her own name. She suddenly liked her a lot more.

“Bob told me you were looking for a bodyguard for your daughter?”

“Yes, my daughter Aquaria. We can get into the specifics of why I would like to hire someone for her at an interview, I’d like to get a look of you in person before I trust you with the life of my only child. This might be sudden but are you free right now?”

“Um, yeah, I mean, yes I am”, Cracker stuttered, still a bit in shock about this whole situation.

“Great, I’ll text you the address and you can come over right now then. See you soon Bree.” She had already hand up when Cracker mumbled a quiet “Yeah see you soon.”

Seconds later Sharon had sent the address, somewhere up in Midtown. She estimated it would take her about a twenty-minute walk to get there, if she walked fast, enough time to get herself together and impress the hell out of that woman.

The in-person part of an interview scared her bit, what if Sharon wanted someone who looked the part? She was a mere 5’4 and had a tiny frame- sure she was all muscle and more skilled than most people she’d be able to find but still. She hated not being taken seriously for being a tiny blonde.

Cracker was wearing combat boots, black skinny jeans and her super tight leather jacket, but her long wavy blonde hair and her big eyes still made her look like a cute little girl. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, hoping to look a little more the part of whatever it was she needed to be.

She arrived at the apparent home of Sharon Needles after about 15 minutes, panic made her walk fast. It was an expensive looking building with a glass façade and black marble lobby. As she entered she could help but feel out of place between all the rich looking people walking past her, but as she looked at the boring and conservative ways most of them dressed, she figured Sharon Needles, though rich as hell, would be just as out of place here.

She walked up to the front desk, faking her most confident smile.

“Hi, I have an interview with Sharon Needles scheduled?”

The guy behind the desk looked her up and down.

“Name?”

“Bree.” Not the nicest person she had ever met, she thought.

“Yeah, Mrs. Needles called”, he said in an incredibly monotone voice and handed her a key card. “This is a one-time card for the elevator, you’ll want to go to the penthouse, that’s very top button, it says PT on it.” He looked at her expectantly, speaking slow as if she was stupid.

She nodded politely and walked towards the elevator, no need to pick a fight now.

She swiped the card, pressed the button to Sharon Needles’ 25th floor penthouse and paced back and forth.

When the elevator dinged, she saw a face she’d only ever seen in newspapers walk towards her, and she was happier than ever that she had never listened to grunge or even been remotely a fan of hers.

“Hi, you’re Bree?”, Sharon was eyeing her carefully, probably trying to recall Bob’s face. “Well you certainly seem to take after your mother.” Cracker smiled uncomfortably.

“I’m his foster daughter. And you can just call me Cracker. If you’d like.” She shifted on her feet, trying to look confident.

“Cracker? I like it. Come, sit”, she motioned at the large dining room table behind her. Sharon went to sit down, and Cracker grabbed the chair next to her.

“So, truth be told I’ll take Alaska’s word over any references anyways, but I prefer meeting people in person, especially for well, private matters.”

Cracker nodded in agreement, keeping up her polite smile.

“I should probably tell you a bit about my daughter. Aquaria is 20 and about two months ago she was attacked by some drunk or stalker or druggie or god knows who. She was walking home alone, and someone smashed a baseball bat at her and broke her collar bone. It might have just been a one-time thing, but I haven’t felt safe letting her out of my eye. She finally let me get her a bodyguard, under the condition that it be a girl.”

The girl seemed to be one of those stories that had prompted her dream of teaching women to defend themselves. Maybe this wasn’t a shit job after all.

“I know I don’t look threatening, but I have been trained in karate for 20 years, and I know bits of many other techniques. I could even teach your daughter some if you’d like.”

Sharon laughed at that.

“Oh Aquaria would never, not if she could break a nail or mess up her hair!” Sharon had a very… _particular_ laugh and Cracker pretended to laugh a little even if she didn’t really find the joke funny. Or saw the joke at all.

“Anyways, if you’d like the job it’s yours, I’ve never been disappointed by anyone Alaska recommend to me. The pay is 2500$ a week, but it won’t really be permanent, just a couple of months maybe until I feel safe again.” Good thing Sharon needed to feel safe even though it was her daughter getting beat up. She didn’t mean it in a selfish way, Cracker reminded herself, she did seem to care about her daughter.

“I’d love to take it.” Cracker didn’t even have to lie, protecting people from unnecessary violence was something she loved, and money, was another thing she very dearly loved.

Sharon clapped her hands together.

“Great, then I’ll go get Aquaria and you two work out a schedule, I need to go meet a friend now anyway. I don’t really need you here at night unless I’m out of town, you’ll just follow her to her jobs, shopping, her social stuff, parties and all that. It shouldn’t be to demanding, she sleeps in so late anyways.” Sharon got up and walked down a hallway, presumably to Aquaria’s room. Who even names their child Aquaria.

When she couldn’t see Sharon anymore she relaxed a bit more into the chair. This certainly wasn’t how she’d imagined her day would go when she filled out an application form at her corner coffee shop this morning. Bob would be so happy for her, she made a mental note call him later.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and turned around again.

“She’ll be out in a minute, lovely to meet you Cracker, I gotta go now”, Sharon shouted through the room and got into the elevator.

Only a couple of seconds later she heard another pair of footsteps on the marble hallway, the person seemed to be barefoot.

Around the corner turned a beautiful girl, and Cracker didn’t have a hard time believing she was model. She had long and sleek platinum blonde hair, swept over to one side and tousled from laying in bed. Her face was still in some extravagant make up that Cracker hoped had been for a shoot and wasn’t her daily go to, but she was wearing grey sweatpants and a black crop top. You could see some bits of her tan stomach as she was walking, and Cracker had to force herself away from staring.Useless lesbian, she thought to herself.

The girl stopped in front of her with an almost bored expression, but extended a hand nonetheless.

“Hi, I’m Aquaria.”


	2. I don't want to hurt anymore

 „Hi, I’m Aquaria.“

She had a soft voice, but she spoke with a very bored tone, as if she didn’t want to be there. In her defense, she probably in fact _didn’t_ want to be there.

“Hey, I’m Cracker.”

They shook hands and their eyes lingered on each other for a bit, until Aquaria took a step back. She crossed her arms in front her, a bit defensively.

“So, you’re going to be my new… babysitter?”

“Bodyguard. Okay I kinda hate that word already, let’s just say I’m… here to protect you?” Cracker shrugged her shoulders. Aquaria was barely two inches taller than her, but she felt tiny as Aquaria looked her up her down with judging eyes.

“I told Mom I don’t need anyone protecting me. But I guess this is better than spending another month in this god damn house alone.” She still talked in a bored, drawled out voice, and Cracker wasn’t sure id it was fake or if that was just how she talked.

“Did you spend you spend a whole month in here?” Cracker wondered, that seemed to be a bit excessive? She also couldn’t imagine keeping a 20-year-old who looked like that on house arrest.

Aquaria shifted on her feet and looked down for a second. She seemed to rub her shoulder with one hand, absentmindedly.

“I couldn’t really leave my bed for a month and Mom… she can be overprotective.” She didn’t say it in the ‘annoyed-teenager’ tone Cracker would have expected, instead, she sounded sincere.

“Well then you must be thrilled to get out there again”, Cracker smiled. Aquaria gazed out window, there was something in her eyes that Cracker couldn’t quite figure out what it meant.

“I mean, yeah, I guess I’m excited. Mainly I have to work again, they postponed all the shoots when I… wasn’t feeling a well.” She shrugged.

“Yes, your mom told me about the attack, did it heal alright? I know collarbones can be bitch, mine took forever to heal when I broke it as a kid.” Thanks again, drunk foster mother number one. Her shoulder back had still hurt months later, probably because they never took her to a proper doctor.

Aquaria started rubbing her shoulder again, she obviously still had some discomfort.

“What did Mom tell you?”, she asked hesitantly.

“That some drunk or drugged up stranger took a swing at you with his baseball bat. I’m really sorry Aquaria, that shouldn’t happen to anyone.”

Aquaria nodded and gave her a sad smile. She looked a little relieved.

“It’s healing alright, as far I as I know, there’s barely any pain.” There probably was, but Cracker understood why she wanted to play it down, they seemed to be similar in that regard.

There was a bit of silence, neither of them really knowing how to get to know someone you’d spend every day with for the next few weeks or so.

“So, we should probably talk about my schedule”, Aquaria seemed to be back to using that bored tone she’d used before.

They sat down at the table again, and Cracker put most of Aquaria’s shoots, errands, hair and nails appointments into her calendar. In comparison to the other girls in karate classes or in the boxing ring, she’d always been a girly girl, with her long blonde waves and her pink lipsticks. Next to Aquaria, she was an absolute tomboy.

The girl needed catch up on a month of missed hair appointments, ballet and Pilates lessons, manicures, pedicures, massages, tanning appointments, the list went on. There were some shoots on afternoons and Aquaria told her that any plans in the evening would be spontaneous.

Cracker tried not to judge her for the way she lived, and for the way she thought that getting a spray tan was an important thing that had priority for a day or thought that fitting two shopping trips into one week was stressful. She reminded herself that girl had grown up having everything, and never had to worry about work, about money, about paying bills. It was a bit like living in bubble, and Cracker didn’t know if she envied or pitied her.

After they figured out when Cracker would be there every morning, they sat in awkward silence again, Cracker not knowing if she should just get up and leave, and Aquaria inspecting her nails.

“What kind of name even is Cracker?”, Aquaria suddenly wondered out loud. She seemed curious, but there was something in that tone of hers that made Cracker wonder if she was teasing or trying to insult her.

“Oh, I don’t know, _Aquaria_ , you tell me.” Aquaria threw her head back at that and started laughing at that.

“My Mom’s rich, rich people love weird names”; she said, still laughing. She had a pretty laugh.

“I’m told I can be happy that she’d already used up all the really shitty names on songs or pets before I was born.” She was still smiling.

“Cracker’s a nickname”, Cracker said, taking a deep breath. If she was going to spend all of her days with this girl, might as well get some stuff out the way.

“It’s also my last name but, no one ever used it until it became a nickname. I was in High School and I hated my name, but people didn’t know what to call me-” Aquaria’s face stayed blank, but her eyes showed curiosity.

“Well one day, I was walking down the street with my best friends Monet and her girlfriend at the time.” She felt Aquaria’s sharp intake of breath at the words ‘her girlfriend’, but she didn’t say anything. Off to a great start then.

 “Some guy who had his car parked on the side of the street got out and yelled at them”, god Cracker hoped Aquaria wasn’t homophobic. Sharon wasn’t, as far as she knew, but who knows, some kids do anything to spite their parents.

“He yelled all kinds of things, horrible things, and we ignored it, but then he threw an empty beer bottle after them, and that’s when I had enough. I think he didn’t expect me to do anything, I was even shorter back then, I was just some tiny 16-year-old, but I could kick his ass. Mainly, I threw him into his windshield. Which cracked. And so did two bones in his arm. I’m not proud of it, but it felt like the right thing at the time.” She had actually felt great afterwards, but she had reminded herself that it wasn’t right.

That was also in her first month of living with Bob, she recalled, who didn’t look happy at all when she came home with bloody knuckles. Another one of those moments where she’d been scared he’d kick her out, but he bandaged her hand, gave her a high five on her non-bandaged hand after she’d told him the whole story, and invited Money over for dinner the next day.

She snapped back to her actual right-now conversation with Aquaria. Her eyes had softened, and she had a hand tucked under her chin, but she seemed at loss for words. Dear god, Cracker thought, please don’t let her be homophobic.

“Thank you for telling me that”, Aquaria finally said, and they both decided to leave it that.

Cracker had hoped for a bit more, but she figured Aquaria probably got that Cracker was inclined towards the homo-side as well, and she didn’t seem to mind it.

They said their quick goodbyes, Aquaria gave her a key card to the apartment and Cracker left, hopping straight onto the next train back uptown. She sat down on the subway and leaned her head against the dirty plastic window and watched the graffiti on the tunnel walls fly by. It wasn’t how she imagined her day would go, but she was content with the outcome.

Aquaria seemed to be a nice girl, it wouldn’t be too bad to spend a lot of time with her, she was young, a bit naïve and snobbish, and she seemed a little shy and closed off at times, but Cracker felt that she had a good heart. Maybe they’d even get along well and become friends, you never knew.

She called Bob on the short walk home, thanked him again, and promised to try and stop by the bar and help out if she ever had the evening of. When she told she didn’t have to get to Aquaria’s until noon, they decided to get breakfast together before, as a little celebration. He stayed on the line until she closed her apartment door behind her, rambling about some new ideas he had for the bar, but she knew he just liked to know that she got home safe, he didn’t trust her shitty neighborhood.

It was a shitty neighborhood yes, but it was her first apartment outside the dorms, and even though is was a tiny studio, she loved it with all her heart. It hadn’t been far from college, which was great at the time and there was a nice place to sit on the fire escape outside the window next to her bed. She and Bob had painted every single wall in a different bright color and there were little bits and pieces, souvenirs and photos flying around everywhere.

She stripped down and changed into her oversized sleeping shirt in a matter of seconds and plopped onto her bed. She debated turning on the TV but decided to scroll through her phone for a bit. She ignored the emails from the restaurants and coffee shops she’d applied back and texted back Monet. As she was scrolling through Instagram, looking at the shitty videos Monet and Bob liked to tag her in, she decided to look up Aquaria.

Damn, she thought when she found Aquaria’s page, and felt a bit old for never having heard of her. She had over half a million followers, despite not even posting that many pictures. Was this the new era of it girls, she wondered as she clicked on a photo of Aquaria with two other bored looking pretty girls.

Aquaria looked stunning in every single picture, there were some from runway shows, some make-believe spontaneous ones of her walking down the street, and various bikini pictures from vacations that Cracker forced herself to not even look at.

Her last post was a close-up picture of her with a very extravagant rhinestone make up on, posted over a month ago. She debated googling her too, but that felt like an invasion of privacy, so she decided not to. Only thing new things she learned about Aquaria was that she seemed to either like to have her pictures taken alone, or just was alone a lot of the time, and that an alarming number of fans were crying about her apparent recent break up from some gay named Ryan. Cracker felt a little twang in her chest.

It took her forever to fall asleep that night, so she was in a hurry getting ready to meet Bob the next morning, for the first time in forever not knowing what to wear. She decided for the exact same ensemble from yesterday, the leather jacket made her feel like a badass and she barely owned any shoes beside her combat boots anyway.

She met Bob at a café a couple of blocks from Sharon and Aquaria’s house, and he surprised her with what he called “Necessities” for her new job. A black snapback like the guys on CSI wore, two pink walkie talkies, secretly Cracker’s favorite color but she eventually had gotten sick of people thinking she was a 12-year-old pageant contestant, and an earbud. Not even a functioning one, just one to put in her ear to look “all professional and shit”.

“So, do you like the girl, do you think y’all are gonna be friends?”, Bob asked after finishing his French toast. Cracker, still on her pancake, contemplated for a second.

“I’d love to think yes, but straight girls always tend not to like me?”

“Well fuck her if she doesn’t like you, she’s missing out!” Cracked laughed at how easily Bob got mad at people potentially not liking her.

“Also, I’m going to come out of this a fucking lady, I’m taking her to beauty and spa shit I didn’t even know existed.”

“Someone could be my favorite daughter of all time if she snuck out some expensive ass products”, Bob said and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Could be?! You fucking bitch”, Aquaria laughed and hit his arm with her CSI cap. She looked at her phone and jumped up.

“Crap I’m gonna be late, I’ll text you later, love you!”, she hugged Bob quickly and walked towards the exit.

“Seriously though, this black ain’t gonna stay fresh forever, snatch your old man a little something”, Bob shouted after her.

Cracker practically sprinted the five blocks down, who even was late on there first day? When their job only started at fucking noon? She made it into the lobby in time and put her most charming smile when she went straight past her receptionist buddy with her brand new golden key card. Excessive and petty? Sure, but a hundred per cent worth it.

She got to catch her breath a little in the elevator, but she was still panting when she walked into the penthouse and towards the kitchen, where she saw a familiar blonde figure casually leaning against a counter. She was wearing a red satin robe, because apparently that’s how rich people walk around their houses in the morning.

“Did you run all the way from Harlem?” Aquaria asked, with a small smile on her face and clutching a glittery coffee mug with both hands.

Cracker propped her ellbows up on the counter opposite Aquaria.

“Hey, it’s people like me who will save the environment one day”, she laughed. “No, I was having breakfast with my- Bob and I lost trach of time.” She tried to put a strand of her that a fallen into her face back into her ponytail.

“Your Bob? Like your boyfriend or-“

“Oh my god no, no! Bob’s my… dad. Yes, my dad”, Cracker interrupted her, and silently plead that Aquaria wouldn’t clock her on how weird she sounded. If she ever saw Bob she’d know anyway, but for now she didn’t feel like sharing her sob story.

Aquaria seemed to realize that Cracker didn’t want to get into it, and just nodded politely.

“Do you want some coffee?”, she asked, still sipping away on her mug.

“Oh yes, absolutely!” Aquaria handed her a black skeleton mug and motioned at the French Press standing on the counter.

“Wait, Aquaria? How do you know where I live?”, Cracker suddenly remembered her earlier comment, and the she had in fact never told her that she lived in Harlem.

Aquaria blushed and turned around, pretending to be putting back some milk back in the fridge.

“I might have done some research on you yesterday after you left?” Aquaria said and bit her lip a bit anxiously, though Cracker could have sworn there was some teasing in her voice.

Cracker pretended to be shocked but couldn’t keep her cool and started laughing. It did warm her heart though, that Aquaria had cared enough about her to stalk her online, maybe they would get along after all.

“Bitch me too, don’t worry”, Cracker said and smiled at her. Their eyes lingered on each other for a bit.

“So, what did you find out about me?” Aquaria asked with a now cocky grin on her face. She was a teaser, apparently.

“I’m apparently a grandma because I had no idea who you were before you, please don’t be offended-“

“I’m not, that’s actually kinda nice.”

“Well I saw what you do, you’re a great model. From the comments I read people love you, they wonder why haven’t posted in so long, and some are sad that you broke up with your ex-boyfriend, whats-his-face- “

“Ryan.” Aquaria had stopped laughing and she clenched her jaw as she spoke. Okay, not a great break up, Cracker figured, maybe still a fresh wound. Not like she could relate anyways. She tried to look supportive, but boy troubles really were one of her least favorite things to hear.

“Do you want to talk about it?”, she asked Aquaria.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get dressed and then we’ll get going.” Her tone had changed, she sounded cold and distant and she was fidgeting with the satin band tied around her waist.

Cracker just nodded as she walked away and went over into the living room are to sit down on of the huge black leather sofas. She wondered what had gotten into Aquaria, and hoped it would disappear again, she was really liking her so far.

Aquaria came back a couple of minutes later, with her hair in a messy bun, still no make up on (not that she needed any), and a jeans and t-shirt combo. She kinda looked like Cracker when she waddled to the coffee store in the morning when she was still half asleep, just, well, _better_.

The majority of the day wasn’t that interesting, Aquaria was in a bad mood and was barely talking to Cracker anymore. Cracker didn’t take it personal though, she just inexplicably seemed lost in her own head.

They went to a fitting for a show that would happen sometime next week, Cracker just zoned out through most of it to be honest, they went to Starbucks two or three times and Aquaria got a haircut. Funnily enough something Cracker had been putting of for a while and seeing Aquaria smooth, platinum strands only made her that much more aware of her on split ends. Even though it felt like they had done literally nothing the whole day, when they left Aquaria’s hairdresser’s it was almost 7 pm.

Cracker was silently praying that they’d go home next when Aquaria’s phone went off. Aquaria dug it out of her purse surprisingly fast, she seemed almost panicked, but her face relaxed after she looked at the caller ID.

“Hey Sasha, what’s up?” Aquaria almost seemed genuinely excited to hear from this Sasha.

“Okay, but why do I need to- no, you’re right, of course I’ll be there it just… slipped my mind. Sorry, I gotta go now, see you later!” There went Cracker’s plans.

Aquaria looked at her with an apologizing gaze.

“Am I ruining any of your plans this evening if I told you I needed to go to a gallery opening in Brooklyn in an hour?”, she said with that face you put on when you would ask your parents to stay up late on a school night. Unfortunately, she looked very adorable doing it.

“I can go on my own, it’s not far and my friends will be there- “

“Aquaria the literal only reason I’m here is you don’t go to shit alone”, Cracker chuckled. She liked having talkative Aquaria back.

“We don’t have to stay long, I just have to congratulate Sasha on her beautiful paintings and then we’ll get out of there, promise”, Aquaria really was too polite for her own good, it’s not like she was forcing Cracker to do anything, except maybe _her job_.

They took a cab to Brooklyn, something Cracker had never done in her life, the Subway was cheaper and more practical in her opinion, plus she had a bit of an aversion to cars, but she wasn’t complaining after that stunning view they had on the Brooklyn bridge.

Aquaria told her a little bit about her friend Sasha, who she wasn’t all that close with but still wanted to keep in her life. They knew each other in apparently the same miscellaneous way all New York rich kids knew each other, private school, clubbing and some charity benefits. Sasha had moved out to Brooklyn two years ago, that’s why they didn’t see each other as often anymore, also she thought Aquaria was wasting her own artistic talents by just being a model.

When on a roll, Aquaria really did talk a lot, but Cracker didn’t mind, talking seemed to calm her down and she had been a little anxious ever since they got on their way.

The gallery was in an old factory loft in Williamsburg, and while the room looked pretty rough, everyone else was there in cocktail dresses and suits, she and Aquaria being by far the most underdressed people in the room.

“Cracker if anyone asks, you’re just a friend okay?”, Aquaria suddenly whispered.

“Sure thing”, Cracker answered with a small smile. Not first time a girl had asked to pretend they were just friends. Maybe not the most exciting time though.

They browsed the gallery for a bit, until Aquaria ran into a bald, tattooed girl in a tight red dress, who was apparently Sasha. They talked for a bit and Cracker got herself a drink (just Ginger Ale, sadly) and looked at the paintings on the wall, trying to look like someone who did this on the regular.

Aquaria came back over to her with a smile on her face.

“Okay I’m done, we can – “Aquaria froze mid-sentence.

“Oh, Ryan’s here, lovely!”, some brunette next to them exclaimed and walked towards a guy who had just entered and was now standing at the bar, with their backs to them. Cracker put two and two together.

“Aquaria, do you want to leave?”, Cracker carefully asked her.

Ryan turned around at the mention of her name and Aquaria and him locked eyes across the room. He was surprised for a bit, but then his surprise turned into a weird smirk and he winked at Aquaria, who looked like a dear caught in headlights.

“Cracker I can’t if I leave he’ll know, he’ll know I’m scared, I can’t”, she had a hand on Cracker’s upper arm and Cracker could feel that she was trembling.

“If you want to leave, we’ll leave, no one will notice, it’s fine”, she said, trying to calm her down.

“No I can’t, he’ll know, I-“, she stopped, again, mid-sentence when Ryan started walking towards them.

Okay, Cracker thought, it was no never, she hoped this wouldn’t get her fired.

She turned around and spilled the remains of her drink over Aquaria’s leg.

“Oh no, look at that, I’m so sorry, come I’ll help you clean this up”, she took Aquaria’s arm and nudged her towards the washing rooms which were in a hallway between the front door and the actual loft itself.

Aquaria seemed startled for a bit but caught on quite fast and walked with her.

They went into the hallway, and after Cracker checked that no one was looking after them, they excited the building.

Aquaria was still shaking when they made it out to the sidewalk, and Cracker wished she had been able to punch the guy. She had no idea what he did, but Aquaria was sweet and didn’t deserve whatever it was.

“Are you okay?” She asked Aquaria, even though she could guess the answer.

Aquaria shook her head and looked Cracker in the eyes, as if she was saying something, but her eyes just filled with tears and she started sobbing. She tried to calm herself, but the tears just kept falling. She turned away from Cracker and covered her face with hands, but Cracker wouldn’t have it.

She took Aquaria into her arm and hugged her. It barely took a second for Aquaria to start sobbing into her shoulder, Cracker could feel her hot tears on her neck, and it broke her heart a little bit.

They seemed to stand there forever, Aquaria crying and Cracker rubbing circles into her back and stroking her hair, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

“It’s all going to be okay Aquaria, whatever it is it’s all going to be fine…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll write one from Aquaria's POV someday, so y'all can love her too.  
> Also can you tell I love foster dad Bob.  
> Sorry this took so long, I was just really frustrated with not getting Aquaria across the way I want her to, but as you can see I just gave up.  
> I live for your comments, please leave one if you enjoyed, if you have any other feedback, or something you'd like to see!


	3. Stay in my arms if you dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW Abuse

When Cracker fell into her bed later that night, she was exhausted. That day wasn’t anything like she’d expected it to be. She was tired, but instead of sleeping she felt like kicking something. Or screaming. Or crying. Something.

She crawled under her blanket, shivering next to the open window, faint sounds of traffic and people on the streets just barely reaching her. Despite the lonely thirty-minute trip back uptown, she still couldn’t get the sound of Aquaria’s sobs out of ears.

_They stood in front of the gallery for a long time, until a cab finally came around and Aquaria quickly wiped her tears away and put on a strong face. She wasn’t fine, but she clearly waned to pretend she was, so Cracker let her. She wanted to put an arm around the other girl when they were driving back to Manhattan, hold her hand, make her feel like she wasn’t as alone as she looked, curled into a ball in back seat. But maybe that would have overstepped boundaries, maybe that would have been creepy._

_The went up to the elevator in silence, standing a proper couple of feet apart, Aquaria with her arms wrapped around her and Cracker fidgeting with the lining of her jacket’s pockets._

_Aquaria had gone straight in the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Cracker heard her crying behind it._

_She carefully knocked._

_“Aquaria? Can you let me in?”_

_“Can you go?”_

_“No, I really don’t think you should be alone?”_

_“No, I want to be alone. Please?”, the door unlocked and Aquaria looked at her from her teary eyes._

_“I just want to curl up in my bed alone, I will be fine.” She looked like she almost believed it._

_“If you need anything, call me alright?” Cracker was still skeptical._

_Aquaria walked her out and hugged her goodbye, only a second too long, it seemed like a thank you, maybe a cry for help. Cracker felt like worse person in the entire world when she walked to the subway station in the dark. Professional boundaries had never been her thing, why try so hard now?_

She rolled around in her sheets almost all night, wondering if Aquaria was doing the same, or if she was just sitting in the shower, or staring aimlessly at the ceiling. Maybe she was fine, maybe she was sleeping.

She drifted off to sleep someday around five, with the streets outside already starting to wake up, and she forced herself not to think about her 8 am alarm clock. Obviously, she had to have a boxing lesson tomorrow of all days.

Boxing went as good as it possibly could when you’re running on three hours of sleep and three cups of coffee. She was rather proud of well she managed to do considering all that and even filmed a short clip to send to Bob where she kicked a sand sack in all twisty und jumpy type of ways that he always found super impressive no matter how many times he saw her do them.

She showered at the studio, quickly changed into her normal clothes. She imagined showing up at the building in her red boxing shorts, the receptionist would probably have a heart attack.

When she got into loft there was no one in the kitchen or living room, no smell of coffee, no Aquaria in silk robes. She missed yesterday morning when everything was getting pretty blondes getting haircuts.

She wandered around the hallway and knocked on Aquaria’s door. She wasn’t an early bird per se either, but she did worry how someone wouldn’t be up past noon on a weekday.

“Mom go away I’m tired!” At least she was awake.

“So not your mother”, Cracker opened the door and tried to smile at Aquaria.

“Oh Cracker, hi”, Aquaria said a bit flustered. She was sitting in the middle of her huge white bed, still in last nights clothes, with tousled hair and dark circles under her eyes. A beautiful tragedy.

“I wanted to tell you, you didn’t need to come today, I’m not really feeling this whole going out thing.” No matter how beat up she looked, she still nailed that snobby voice.

Cracker sighed.

She walked over to the bed, took of her boots and sat down cross legged on the very bottom corner. She played with her fingers for a second until she looked at Aquaria again. The other girl was eyeing her cautiously.

“Do you want to talk?” Cracker asked.

“About what”, Aquaria answered, a bit tense.

“About yesterday. I know you don’t want to, but I was so worried.”

Aquaria looked at the wall behind Cracker more than at her.

“Aquaria if you have panic attacks or anxiety that’s all fine, I’d just feel so much better if I knew. I know I don’t know you, and you don’t owe me or anything, but you scared me so much.”

Aquaria looked at her with a sad smile.

“God the last thing I wanted is to scare you. I thought we got along pretty great, I guess I ruined everything now…”

“It’s fine, it’s all good Aquaria. I think we do get along pretty well”, Cracker couldn’t help but blush a little while saying that, “and that’s why if there is anything I need to know, or you want to talk about, you can.”

“Cracker I can’t. I’m sorry. I’ve known you a day, I think you wouldn’t tell a soul if I told you anything, but if I’m stupid and just getting attached to fast, and you would tell… I can’t do that, I can’t risk that.”

She was rambling in that way people do when they’ve barely slept, but Cracker got the jist.

“I do want to trust you, really. I just can’t yet.” She pulled the blanket around her up a little higher, snuggling into it for comfort.

“That’s alright, I understand that.”

After all, Aquaria didn’t know her yet. Cracker wondered if she’d trust her more if Cracker showed some of her secrets. I’ll show you mine, you’ll show me yours, or something.

“Can I keep you company for the day at least? I still don’t think you should be alone.”

“Would you go if I asked you to?”, Aquaria almost smirked.

Cracker laughed, “No, I probably wouldn’t”

It was a pretty mindless day to get paid 500 bucks for, sitting on Aquaria’s sofa, while she stayed in bed, talking, watching Lion King because apparently Cracker was an ‘uneducated and fake 90s kid’ for never having seen it, and lots of laughter. Aquaria was hilarious when she wanted to be, and Cracker liked making her laugh.

When it was slowly getting darker outside and when Cracker couldn’t take her further education of Real Housewives, she got an idea.

“Aquaria is there any way I could get you to get ready and go out tonight?”

Aquaria looked suspicious.

“Maybe? Why?”

“Bob- my dad, has a bar not far from here, and I’d like you to meet him.” Was that coming on to strong? No, she wasn’t coming on to anyone, this was just friendly.

“I don’t really want to be seen today Cracker- “

“Trust me, no one you have ever known goes there”, Cracker laughed and imagined Sasha in Bob’s tiny dirty bar covered in rainbow flags and glitter. “Well, except Alaska, but she isn’t working today I think?”

Aquaria lifted her arms over her head and stretched, contemplating.

“Alright. But you gotta get me alcohol if they won’t let me!”

“Why wouldn’t they- oh my god you’re not even 21 yet I forgot you were a baby!” Cracker was cackling, Aquaria was pouting.

“Only like 10 more months though”, she mumbled.

“You sound like Monet’s niece who insists that she’s four _and a half_!”

Cracker’s laughing was interrupted when a silky white pillow hit her square in the face, almost knocking her of the sofa. Aquaria looked very pleased with her work as she got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom.

She left the door open, so she could still talk.

“Tell me about your friends, the only one I’ve heard about so far is Monet”, Aquaria inquired.

“Is it sad if there aren’t really many more?”, Cracker was lying on her back now, feet propped up on the sofa’s armrest, being as improper as she could.

“I moved around a lot when I was younger, so I lost contact with a lot of people, and was always more of a loner I guess.”

“You’re so easy to talk to though, that’s so hard to imagine.” Aquaria sounded like she was concentrating on whatever make up stuff she was doing. Cracker liked makeup, but she was neither as skilled with it nor as interested in it as Aquaria. She only really wore make up because she didn’t like her face that much without it, it wasn’t art for her, or a passion. It was kinda like brushing your teeth, very much a routine thing.

She almost forgot that Aquaria had just complemented her and zoned her head back into the conversation.

She didn’t feel like discussing her childhood anymore though, so she left it at a joking “I need to talk to you though, how creepy would that be, if I just followed you all day in silence.”

“You have no idea what bodyguards usually do, do you?” Aquaria laughed in the bathroom.

“It’s not like I’m going to be one forever, let a girl have some fun!”

“I never asked, what do you want to do? Mom just told me you’re a college dropout, but you kind of don’t fit what I imagined that to be?” Cracker snickered, not like Aquaria knew many college drop outs.

“It’s honestly quite a long story why I left, but my goal is to open a martial arts and self-defense school, targeted to women especially. I never really get scared when I’m alone in a dark alley, because I know how to defend myself very well, but I know so many girls who don’t and-“, she ended her sentence there, when she remembered that Aquaria was one of those girls, one of the victims. She waited anxiously for a reply from the other girl, hoping she didn’t step on her toes.

“Cracker that’s really great”, Aquaria said quietly, but sincerely.

“I’m sorry if I-“

“Will you teach me some time?” Well that came unexpected.

“Do- do you want me to?” She imagined Aquaria in gym clothes, lying flat on her back on the mats, breathing heavily- yeah no, think of something else Cracker, quickly.

“I want to feel a little less afraid whenever I see… a shadow behind me, you know?”

“Then I’ll teach you. You’ll kick all of the shadow’s asses in no time”, Cracker said softly.

Aquaria was out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later and proceeded to change into black skinny jeans and a glittery crop top, while Cracker decidedly stared at the ceiling.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

And ready she was. Gorgeous, if you wanted to be specific about it, the sparkle in her eyes matching the sparkly top, red lipstick making her look older than she did that morning, and that tiny bit of stomach showing, that apparently was apart of Aquaria’s every look, and Cracker’s continuous downfall.

Cracker intuitively walked to the subway station when they stepped outside the building, only stopping when she saw Aquaria’s bewildered expression. She never got why rich people couldn’t take the subway, it wasn’t that bad.

They took a cab to Bob’s bar a couple of blocks away, and Cracker watched the confusion unfold on Aquaria’s face and she realized they were standing in front of a gay bar. Bob changed the name every couple of years when he got bored, but the bar had stuck with the “Nine Inch Males” for quite sometime now, and Cracker still found it hilarious.

“Your dad owns a- never mind I’m told my mom used to do porn, I’m not gonna judge”, Aquaria blabbered, taking Cracker’s arm and nudging her inside. The inside of the bar was fairly small, but with a small dancefloor, an even tinier little stage, and neon lit bar and a whole bunch of corners with tiny tables and armchairs for people who wanted privacy.

It was still fairly early and empty, it was just the barkeeper Dustin, some couples sitting on the small tables, and Bob and a couple of drag queens, discussing something on stage. When Bob saw her, he handed the mic back to one of the queens and walked towards them.

“Breezy, you didn’t tell me you were gonna drop by today, I thought you had to work!” He engulfed her in a big hug. It was another one of those things she loved about Bob, he never hugged halfheartedly, it was either all or nothing.

“I’m at work”, she answered, pointing at Aquaria who was a step behind her and apparently still taking in the number of rainbows in the room, but was now looking at Bob.

“Oh my god, sorry I didn’t see you there Aquaria, I’m Bob”, he went and hugged Aquaria, who looked confused.

“Hi, nice to meet you”, she managed to bring out.

“Listen, I’ll be back in a few, but I have to sort something out with Peppermint’s number first, okay?” And with that Bob left again, but Cracker was used to it, he was always quite stressed when something didn’t go according to plan at work, a bit of a perfectionist.

They sat down at one of the small tables, leaving an empty chair for Bob to come back to, when Cracker noticed Aquaria staring at her face.

“Is everything alright?”, she asked.

“Okay I really don’t want to be rude, please don’t be offended?”

“Shoot.”

“How is your dad a 6ft black gay man?” The genuine confusion in her eyes was priceless, and Cracker started laughing.

“Yeah, I should have prepared you for that I guess”, she laughed.

“Bob is my foster dad”, she added a couple of seconds later though, a bit more serious.

“Foster dad? As in he adopted you?”

“He wanted to, but I was already an adult when the paperwork got here, so, yeah.”

“How did you-?” Aquaria was struggling to choose her words carefully, so Cracker figured better explain it all.

“My parents died when I was ten. I got through a handful of not so great foster families pretty much all over the east coast, until I got to Bob when I was sixteen. He is the best person I’ve ever met, and I couldn’t ask for a better dad.”

Aquaria seemed to contemplate for a moment.

“I’m sorry about your parents”, she said in that sincere tone that only people who had experienced loss before could, and Cracker wondered where in her life, if at all, her father was.

“Thank you. You know what, enough sad things, do you want me to get you a drink?”

“Sex on the beach?” Aquaria was beaming at her.

“Coming right up girl.”

Cracker didn’t even bother ordering it from Dusty, she just went behind the bar to make it herself, as well as a virgin version for herself. She chatted a bit with Dustin, and she was excited to finally see him again, when she was still in college they somehow always kept missing each other. She played a bit with a syrup bottle, trying extra hard to throw and juggle it when she caught Aquaria watching her. She walked back with the two drinks in her hand, trying to suppress how date-y this all felt.

They sat in that corner for a couple of hours, watching Peppermint and the other queen, Judy Darling, perform, and Cracker was relieved that Aquaria was very into it, mouthing along to the lyrics and almost dancing in her seat.

When Cracker came back from the bathroom, Aquaria was even up on the dancefloor dancing with two gay guys and Peppermint. Cracker leaned against the wall and watched in awe.

“She is completely different from what I expected”, Bob said, sneaking up behind her.

“Yup, same here”, Cracker couldn’t take her eyes off of the way the rainbow lights reflected on Aquaria’s top when she moved.

“Why did you bring her here though?”, Bob asked.

“I want her to trust me, I think she’s hiding something. I’m pretty sure I know what, but I want her to trust me and tell me”, Cracker sighed.

“What?” Bob sounded curious.

“I think the whole assaulted by a stranger thing is bullshit and her boyfriend hit her.”

Bob took a deep breath.

“Motherfucker”, he gritted through his teeth. “If he did, give that son of a bitch a punch or two from me as well will you? She seems so sweet.”

“What makes you think I’ll punch him?”, Cracker said, faking to be offended.

“The way you look at her”, he answered plain and simple. Cracker couldn’t argue with that.

She joined Aquaria on the dancefloor for another half an hour or so. Aquaria had gotten pleasantly tipsy from her one drink and wisely decided to call it a night after that, but she seemed to be having a lot a fun. After some time, Cracker caught her yawning though, and remembered that had barely slept at all the night before and whispered in her ear (because of the loud music, and for no other reason) if she wanted to go home. Aquaria nodded thankfully, and they said their goodbyes and hopped in a cab.

Aquaria almost fell asleep on the five-minute drive home, and Cracker decided to be bold and put an arm around her waist guiding her to the elevators. When Aquaria went to the bathroom to remove her make up and get changed, Cracker wondered if she should leave already, until she checked her phone and saw a text from Sharon, who had gone on a spontaneous trip to LA and wanted her to stay over. Mother of the year, Cracker thought when she remembered the way Aquaria must have looked the last time Sharon saw her, before she decided to jet off.

“Aquaria?”, she shouted down the hallway. “Do you guys have a blow up mattress or something? Your mom is out of town and wants me to stay here.”

Aquaria emerged from her room, this time in just plain grey shorts and tight white top that complemented her tan skin, her hair tucked behind her ears.

“My couch is a pullout couch actually”, she laughed. “Although I think my mom had a guest room in mind”, she added cautiously.

“I’ll take the couch”, Cracker announced, and Aquaria seemed content with that choice.

She borrowed a pair of very soft feeling sweatpants from Aquaria, and removed her bra without taking of her shirt, like the shy little lesbian she apparently was again whenever Aquaria was near.

The lights were mostly off, just some fairy lights in corner still lighting up the room with a soft orange-y glow. They both lay in their beds for the nights, both silent and aware that the elephant in the room from last night and this morning had crept up on them again.

“Do you want to talk now?”, Cracker asked quietly-

Aquaria shifted on the bed, sheets ruffling.

“Come lie with me?”

Cracker was a bit nervous, but she took her blanket and lay down next to Aquaria on the huge bed, on the covers, while Aquaria was snuggled under them.

She was staring at the ceiling and taking some deep breaths. Cracker decided to be bold.

“Did he not want you to break up with him?”, she asked, implying what she had been thinking all day.

Aquaria seemed relief that Cracker knew the direction this conversation was going, as she let out a shaky breath.

“It wasn’t that he didn’t want it, he didn’t like why I broke up with him.” She played with the hem of her pillow and took a deep breath again.

“He was never violent before. Not a great boyfriend, sometimes a rude asshole, but never violent. But I told him I wanted end things because it didn’t feel right with him, because I could never feel about him how I should, because I like women.” Her eyes were filling up with tears, but Cracker could feel the burden lift off Aquaria’s shoulders a little bit.

“I had never told anyone that, I still haven’t, I was so scared. He- he said I couldn’t be gay, how would that make him look, after all I had slept with him, he said I couldn’t leave him because who else would want me, broken and confused”, she was full on crying now, and Cracker just wanted to take her into her arms, but she knew that Aquaria wasn’t finished yet.

“I said I never enjoyed the sex, it just didn’t feel right, it couldn’t because he was a guy, and that I was sorry and that I hoped that we could remain friends, that was when his fist h it me. First, he busted my lip, I think, then my cheek, he hit my jaw a couple of times. I was feeling so dizzy, then he kicked me in the stomach and shoved me against a brick wall, that’s when my collar bone broke.” She was trying to quiet her sobs, but her voice broke at almost every other word.

“That was a couple of blocks away from here, outside a club. I managed to get home, I told mom I got attacked by stranger, but I don’t think she believed me. But she never asked again.”

“Aquaria come here”, Cracker said and opened her arms. Aquaria buried her head in Cracker’s chest, hot tears streaming down her face, and one hand on Cracker’s back, holding on to her for dear life. Cracker held her with both arms, stroking the hair on the back of her head.

“You’re safe now Aquaria, I’ll make sure of that”, she whispered into her ear.

“And whoever you are and whoever like is completely fine”, she added, and earned another sob from Aquaria.

They fell asleep like that, under separate blankets, but in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii, sorry for the long wait, life and uni and work got the best of me. This chapter is a little sad I know, but it's necessary. I hope you guys like it anyways.  
> Also thank you guys so much for all your kind comments, they really do make my day and motivate me to get my ass up and finally write again, so please do leave a comment if you liked it :)


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